Ear protector from noise and dirt



July 5, 1966 H. s. LEIGHT EAR PROTECTOR FROM NOISE AND DIRT Filed June11, 1964 f ai INVENTOR Hon Aka SIZE/6H7 BY United States Patent3,259,128 EAR PROTECTOR FROM NOISE AND DIRT Howard S. Leight, 1930 S.Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles 34, Calif. Filed June 11, 1964, Ser. No.374,376 7 Claims. (Cl. 128-452) g This invention relates to ear plugsand particularly to ear plugs for protection against noise, water, dust,and dirt.

Ear plugs are known as evidenced by US. Patents No. 1,355,276, ofOctober 12, 1920, No. 2,427,664 of September 23, 1947, Design No.195,322 of May 28, 1963, and No. 2,670,737, of March 2, 1954, anearphone plug being disclosed in No. 2,487,038, of November 8, 1949.Although these prior plugs have certain amounts of noise attenuation andear protection qualities, the plug of this invention, by its specificconstruction, provides greater protection by its ability to conform toear canals of different shapes and sizes and thus increase the sealbetween the ear canal wall and the plug.

Two forms of ear protective plugs are disclosed hereinafter, one formbeing primarily a noise attenuation plug, and the other form providing,in addition, protection from water, dust, and dirt. Both forms are airfilled to aid the plugs to form the seal within the ear canal regardlessof the variations in shape and size of the canal. The plugs have easilyoperated insertion and removal tabs which are aided by the concave outerend construction of the plugs.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to improve the'efliciency of ear protection plugs.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved ear protectionplug.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ear protection plughaving a continuous ear canal sealing capability by a plurality offlexibility flanges of different diameters.

A better understanding of this invention may be had from the followingdetailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an ear canal with the invention ofFIG. 1 positioned therein;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2and taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view ofanother form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an ear canal with the invention ofFIG. 4 positioned therein;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detailed view of a section 6 of the inventionshown in FIGS. 4 and 5; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the invention shown in FIGS. 4, 5,and 6.

Refering, now, to the drawings in which the same reference numeralsidentify the same elements, the ear protection plug of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3has a body portion 5 having two cylindrical sections 6 and 7 and aconvex conical tip section 8, the section 6 having a solid base portion10 and a hollow portion 11. Extending from the center of the outersurface area of the solid portion 10, which is concave as shown at 13,is a cylindrical insertion and removal tab 14 which, in conjunction withthe concave surface 13, makes finger-tip insertion and removal of theplug particularly easy.

The remaining portion of the plug has a reduced diameter section 7 and abullet-shaped tip 8. The wall of portion 11 of section 6 and the wallsof sections 7 and 8 are approximately ,4 of an inch in thickness. Thisthickness of the walls, which are preferably of polyvinylchloride,together with the air filling of the sections, permits 3,259,128Patented July 5 1966 "ice ready contraction and expansion of thesections to provide a continuous contact of the wall of the ear canal asillustrated in FIG. 2. That is, the plug will mold itself to the shapeof the ear canal to provide a continuous seal to enable the plug to behighly eificient as a noise insulator. The diameters of the sections 6,7, and 8 may be larger by approximately of an inch compared to thesimilar sections of the plug shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 which will begiven hereinafter.

Referring, now, to the last-mentioned figures, the plug shown thereinhas a body 20 consisting of a cylindrical base section 21 with a solidportion 22 and a hollow portion 23, a smaller diameter hollow section 25and a bulletshaped nose section 26. An insertion and removal cylindrical tab 29 extends from the center area of the concave surface ofsolid portion 22. To the extent so far described, the two forms of plugsare similar. However, the features of this second form of plug now to bedescribed provide an improved seal which is particularly suitable forprotecting the car from water, dirt, and dust in addition to its noiseattenuation ability.

Where the first-described plug is suitable for many ear canals varyingin size, this second form of plug is suitable for practically all sizesof ear canals. This is accomplished by adding tapered disc flanges 30and 31 on the intermediate section 25 and the tip section 26,respectively, of certain sizes and at certain positions on the sections25 and 26. In this manner, five separate and individual seals areobtained. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the flanges are inserted inthe ear canal, they fold backward along the canal wall and each providea seal without altering the seal provided by the next larger diametersection. The first of the five seals is the bulletshaped increasingdiameter tip 26, the second seal being flange 31. The third seal iscylindrical section 25, the fourth seal the flange 30, and the fifthseal the cylindrical portion 23 of section 21.

The dimensions of a plug as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7 which aresuitable to provide the increased sealing for different size ear canalsare as follows: The diameter of section 21 is of an inch, the diameterof section 25 is of an inch, and the largest diameter of section 26 is Aof an inch. The important dimensions which provide the five separateseals is the outer diameter of flange 31 which is of an inch, the outerdiameter of flange 31 which is 7 of an inch with respect to the shape ofthe juncture between sections 21 and 25 and between sections 25 and 26.The entire length of body 20 is 7 of an inch which includes /s of aninch for solid portion 22, A; of an inch for the hollow cylindricalportion 23, of an inch for the curved juncture between portion 523 andsection 25 and A of an inch for the distance from the curved juncture toflange 30. Continuing the dimensions of body 20, the base of flange 30is of an inch and the distance from the flange 30 to the curved junctureof section 25 with section 26 is of an inch, the curved juncturedistance being of an inch, the distance therefrom to flange 31 being ofan inch. The base of flange 31 is /32 of an inch, while the distancefrom flange 31 to the tip of section 26 is of an inch.

It will be noted that since the diameter of nose section 26 is A of aninch, the diameter of flange 31 is of an inch and the length of the baseportion of section 26 is of an inch, the flange 31 will fold over thespace between the base of flange 31 and the curved juncture betweensections 25 and 26. The same dimension ratios apply for flange 30 sothat five seals as mentioned above are produced which not only permit itto fit and adjust to all shapes and sizes of normal ear canals butprovides an ear protector of high quality. It will be noted from FIG. 6that the cylindrical sections between the flanges and curved juncturesections are depressed by the bending back of the flanges.

I claim:

1. An ear protector comprising a triple air-filled cylindrical sectionedbody having a base section including a solid cylindrical portion and anair-filled cylindrical portion, the surface of the end of said solidportion being concave, an intermediate cylindrical section of smallerdiameter than said base section and joined thereto by a convex curvedportion, a tip section of smaller diameter than said intermediatesection and joined thereto by a convex curved portion, said tip sectionbeing convexly curved, and a tab attached to the central area of saidconcave surface of said solid base portion.

2. An ear protector in accordance with claim 1 in which a flangesurrounds said intermediate section substantially at the center of saidsection and a second flange surrounds said tip section substantially atthe center thereof.

3. An ear protector in accordance with claim 2 in which the outerdiameters of said flanges are greater than the adjacent cylindricalsections.

4. An ear protector comprising a multiple sectioned cylindrical bodyhaving a base section including a solid cylindrical portion and anair-filled cylindrical portion, a convexly curved tip section of smallerdiameter than the diameter of said base section, at least onecylindrical secl tion connecting said base and tip sections, saidinterconnecting section having a smaller diameter than the diameter ofsaid base section and joined thereto by a convexly curved portion toprovide a seal, said tip and interconnecting sections being air-filled,and a tab attached to the outer surface of said base section.

5. An ear protector in accordance with claim 4 in which a flangesurrounds said tip section substantially at the center of said tipsection.

6. An ear protector in accordance with claim 5 in which a second flangesurrounds said interconnecting section substantially at the centerthereof.

7. An ear protector in accordance with claim 6 in which the outerdiameters of said flanges are greater than the diameters of the adjacentcylindrical sections to permit the flanges when folded toward said basesection to provide multiple seals.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,824,558 2/1958Michael et al. 128-452 FOREIGN PATENTS 578,613 7/1946 Great Britain.

ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

1. AN EAR PROTECTOR COMPRISING A TRIPLE AIR-FILLED CYLINDRICAL SECTIONEDBODY HAVING A BASE SECTION INCLUDING A SOLID CYLINDRICAL PORTION AND ANAIR-FILLED CYLINDRICAL PORTION, THE SURFACE OF THE END OF SAID SOLIDPORTION BEING CONCAVE, AN INTERMEDIATE CYLINDRICAL SECTION OF SMALLERDIAMETER THAN SAID BASE SECTION AND JOINED THERETO BY A CONVEX CURVEDPORTION, A TIP SECTION OF SMALLER DIAMETER